House Kurita Battlemechs - Genyosha

Of all the factions in Battletech my favorite is House Kurita.  Who cannot love big stompy robots piloted by Samurai warriors? 

Anyway, the other week I finally finished all my House Kurita Battlemechs.  It was a long process.  I originally had done some up in Ghost Regiment colors, but I found white too cumbersome and difficult to paint.  So, I want with an easy scheme: Genyosha.  32 Battlemechs, 8 armored vehicles, 6 infantry platoons and three power armor squads comprise this force.  There is certainly no chance that I would ever use all of this in a Battletech game.  Alpha Strike is a different matter though.

I started with a base coat of Tamyia Dark Grey (airbrushed).  I then airbrushed on Tamyia Neutral Grey and Light Grey, at 45 degree angles to achieve (or at least try to achieve) a color modulation effect.  I then highlighted certain areas with Vallejo White Grey, denoting experienced pilots.  Cockpits were "jewelled" with Reaper Master Series Fire Red, Phoenix Red and Fire Orange.  I did apply some "pin" washes with Vallejo Dark Grey and Grey washes.  I was very careful in their application since I am not really a fan of the all over wash type of application. 

The models were finished off with Tamyia weathering pigments.  Decals were then liberally applied.  My Genyosha decals have not yet arrived to please excuse the lack of regiment markings.  Decals are, IMO, extremely important when modelling at this scale, and especially with monotone schemes like green or grey.  They provide a the pop necessary to an otherwise featureless piece.  The vehicles were recently done and have not had this treatment yet.

Almost all the mechs then had small labels made and glued on to the base.  This helps when teaching the game to new people since the number and types of mechs are daunting.  All they need now is an opponent to blow up.

Genyosha Regiment on Parade

 

Awesome and Shogun

Atlas and Cyclops

Guillotine and Catapult

Dragon I and Marauder 4X

Hunchback, Trebuchet and Cicada

Cicada and Vulcan

Spider, Jenner and Vindicator

Firestarter and Flea

Whitworth and Jenner

Hermes II, Clint and Grasshopper

Orion and Quickdraw

Quickdraw and another Dragon I

Zeus and Grand Dragon (I know it is not a Grand Dragon model, but I like this piece anyway..so there!)

Atlas and Stalker

Banshee & Charger

Power Armor

Infantry Platoon

Scorpion Light Tanks

Behemoth and Ontos Assault Tanks

Manticore Heavy Tanks and SRM and LRM Launchers

Battletech City Battlefield - 6mm Old Crow Buildings

If I could play only game for the rest of my life it would be Battletech.  This game captures my imagination like no other.  The background makes 40K look like a short story.  It is, IMO, the ultimate sci fi setting (at least for me).

This week I finished the last few bits of my urban battlefield.  At it's core, Battletech is a boardgame.  I very much enjoy playing on the original paper map sheets.  However, I have upgraded Battletech to the 21st century, allowing for traditional wargame style play. 

The battlefield consists of a 6x4 felt hex map by Hozmat.  The hexes are 45mm in width.  This is important since I am using Heroscape terrain for hills and those hex hills are 45mm wide as well. z-scale trees form my forests (tree density determines whether it is light or heavy).  Buildings are from the 6mm Old Crow line.  Jez makes some fantastic stuff that paints up quite easily.

The water and road tiles are from Gamecraft Miniatures.  Depth 1 water is blue, Depth 2 has a darker blue center and Depth 3 is an all dark blue hex.  The buildings are also on hex tiles, painted in a lighter grey, to differentiate them from roads.  I wanted to delineate which hexes the buildings actually occupy since some of them are either too large or too small for the hex boundaries.  Everything was airbrushed with both Vallejo and Tamyia paints.  I used a base of Tamyia Medium Grey and then highlighted with Vallejo US Airforce Light Grey and then Vallejo White Grey.  This gives a color modulation effect, with the brighter colors on the tops of the buildings.  Accents were done in Reaper Master Series paint Dirty Grey.

Now that this is completely done I am relieved.  Many of these models were in storage for some time.  It is nice that they finally can see a table.

Overall battlefield



6mm Old Crow Power Plant



6mm Old Crow Residential Blocks and Tower

Old Crow Residential Block and Silo



Old Crow Residential Block and Garage

6mm Old Crow Round Tower, 3 levels high)

Lake

Downtown

6mm Old Crow Buildings

GZG 15mm DPRG Force - Tomorrows War / Gruntz / Alien Squad Leader

I have not painted anything this week.  Too much going on, especially at work.  I have had these boys on my table for over a month, waiting for games which did not happen.  So, before putting them away here they are on parade, the DPRG.

The DPRG (Democratic People's Republic of Glory) are a faction from Ambush Alley's Tomorrows War game (think sci-fi North Korea, except not as nice).  The models are made by Ground Zero Games.  Flash was almost non existent and they all cleaned up rather well.  I flushed out the force with some Khurasan Red Faction infantry, GZG ESU Powered Armor and GZG robotic drones (machine guns and missiles).

The force below is based on 50x50mm bases for Alien Squad Leader.  I use blue tac to attach the individual models, allowing me to use them in a variety of games.  The force contains 12 squads of infantry, two HQ groups, two heavy weapons groups, 2 teams of power armor, four mobile weapons platforms and two groups of robotic infantry.

Not really much else to say other than here they are.

DPRG on Parade

Add caption

ESU Power Armor

Onwards, for our Dear Leader!

Heavy Weapons Teams

DPRG Infantry

Forward!

Khurasan Red Faction Infantry

Robotic Infantry (6mm GZG Dirtside Mechs)

GZG Drone Tanks

DPRG Infantry

15mm Khurasan Lhurgg Tribesmen Part 2

Well, I finally got around to finishing the rest of my Khurasan Lhurgg Tribesmen.  I think that I am suffering from burnout.  I took almost four weeks to finish these guys.  It was a lot of effort for me to finish them, working a little bit each night, sometimes stopping for nights on end.  It probably stems from the fact that I have not played a game in years and this stuff just ends up in foam cases, sometimes never to be seen again.  I just wanted them done and off my table.  Anyway, on to the models.

There are five poses in this set.  They are tall and the quality is high, to be expected from Khurasan.  I did them in the same scheme as the first set - Reaper Blond Triad with a wash of Sepia ink.  After the ink dried some highlighting was done over the ink wash to bring out some additional details.  On 15mm, due to the size vs 28mm, if the highlighting looks extreme (compared to 28mm) then it is probably just right. 

Next up on my table is a set of GZG Kra'Vak vehicles.  I have no clue how I am going to paint them.  None.  Once they are complete however my Alien Imperial/Warrior Caste army for Alien Squad Leader will be complete. 

Lhurgg Tribesmen Horde

The five distinct poses.

15mm Khurasan Lhurgg Tribesmen

This week we are looking at the 15mm Lhurgg Tribesmen, from Khurasan miniatures.  Now, normally, in most sci fi games you do not see naked sword wielding aliens.  However, in Alien Squad Leader, such warriors are not out of place.  I picked these guys up for my Alien Imperial Faction for ASL games (and for Gruntz as well).  This faction is required to have a certain number of primitive aliens, mainly for cannon fodder.

There are two types of kits of Lhurgg, ones with swords and ones with small arms.  I have both sets but these guys are the first to see paint.  The models are substantially larger than most 15mm ranges.  You can see, compared to the GZG DRPG trooper, that the aliens stand quite taller than an average human.  The castings were clean, with little clean up.  Most of the clean up was around the groin area, funny enough.

Since most of my models are earth tones, greens or greys I wanted to do something different with these guys.  When looking at them I imagined an evil, carnivorous reptilian race, with little creative thought or emotion, but which behaved only according to basic instinct: feeding and reproducing.  I went with bright colors to bring out the details, especially the sexual organs.  When I showed by wife my prototype her disgusted reaction assured me that I was on the right track color wise.



I used the Reaper Master series Blond Hair Triad for the skin.  I then washed the model in diluted GW Sepia wash, then did another highlight with the triads.  They have an orange-yellow skin tone, sufficiently alien looking.  I was originally going to avoid any washes on these models and do all the highlighting by hand.  However, after a trial run with a prototype I realized that my skill level is not good enough for such work on 15mm.  While looking ok the wash brought out details that I never could by hand.







The models are certainly not for everyone, but they capture the feel that I was looking for.  Hopefully I can get their fellows painted up later this week.

Khurasan Lhurgg Tribemen

Three Headed Mutan Lhurgg

Nice ass!

15mm Sci Fi Aircraft - Matchbox Skybusters Stealth Launch

Sometimes the best models are not models at all.  Although I have some flying units in various 15mm Sci Fi armies, until recently I had no fixed wing aircraft.  However that changed when I found these: Matchbox Skybusters Stealth Launch jets.  They reminded me of the Gi-Joe Conquest Jets and the Russian Su-35.  These come in many color schemes but I liked this one the best.  The only modification I did was to remove the wheels.  I then mounted them on flight bases.  That is basically it.  They make good additions IMO to any Sci Fi Force.  They are cheap too, $5.00 USD. 

Matchbox Skybusters Stealth Launch Jets

Remove the wheels.  Missiles can be painted as well.

Mount on a flight stand.

Bomb your foes!